Imitation vs influence

["samba -" <sambacomet@hotmail.com>]

  Since I used Hendrix as an examle ,if you liksten to blues guitatr ,it's 
quite plain Hendrix was influenced by everyone who went before,esp Muddy 
Waters,all the Kings ,well maybe not Don KIng or the King family or king 
George ,butBB Freddy Albert and Earl.Buddy Guy Magic Sam John Lee Hooker 
etc. But he never tried to make you think he's them,or plays one of their 
solos note for note,ona recording or on stage. In jazz blues folk styles  
having some roots is a very good thing,adding something to the vocabulary 
of 
the tradition is a very good thing. In nontrad styles originality is very 
important,but is one of severla aesthetic criteria to be balanced 
creatively. This doesn't mean that someone who just plays for the joy of 
it 
has to do any particular thing,but if someone wants the attention of an 
audience putting more attention ,emotion and care into it makes them 
worthy 
,in my aesthietics of attention.Merely mimicing someone else who does make 
the commitment to crafting something fresh is just not interesting. 
coltrane 
and hendrix each had technique that went so far beyond what preceeded them 
that  many oftheir followers got hung up in those techniques to the 
detriment of other musical qulaities,like genuine voice. soulfullness etc. 
Everyone has an individual voice ,but if they never express it cause 
they're 
mimicking someone else's ,it's boring.But being influenced by someone who 
plays soulfully,is wonderful if it's inspirational.

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